Close to the Heart
by Haruka-Chan 212
Summary: -Chapter 5 up finally- Haruka Tenou is a 30 year old attorney, the best in Japan, until a tragic day changes her life forever. Please R
1.

Close to the Heart  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Haruka Tenou, now 30, was a nationally acclaimed prosecuting attorney. Even at her young age, she had won hundreds of cases, while losing very few. Her passion held steady for her job, nothing had ever broken that. She had allowed a few women into her life, but soon found they hated her career, and she grew to hate them. They couldn't stand that she spent all of her time in her office, reading case files, and preparing her side for the trial.  
  
Rape, murder, arson, robery, she'd put them all behind bars. Most for life, very few would get out before their own death. Any criminal hated having Haruka against them, because they knew they would end up in prison.  
  
She stifled a yawn, then allowed her eyes to wander from her paper to the clock on the corner of her desk. "shit." She mumbled softly to herself. Midnight, and as usual, she was the only one left in the apartment sized building.  
  
"I need a beer." this had always been her way to deal with her lonliness, talking to herself, allowing her thoughts to come to life. Even if she loved her work, she lacked a social life. Very few people could stand being around her, most of her conversations drove toward law and the legal field, or politics, topics that didn't amuse many people.  
  
Slowly, she packed up up folders and notes into her briefcase. She flipped her desk lamp off and walked out of her office, being sure to lock the door behind her. It wasn't rare for her to leave that time of the night, it fell into her normal routine. She would leave the office, as she was doing then, stop at the liqour store for a 6 pack of beer, a bottle of whiskey, scotch, or vodka, depending on how stressful her day had been. The more stressful, the stronger the alcohol.  
  
"Gotta love the laziness society has pushed on us common folk." she chuckled to herself as her Mercedes S23 unlocked on it's own as she got closer to it. After she climbed in and started the engine, she headed off to her normal stop, a block from the penthouse apartment she lived in, in downtown Tokyo.  
  
The man behind the counter greeted her when she came in. "Howdy Haruka, how was your day today?" he watched her head back to one of the refrigerators.  
  
"Boring, as usual. Nothing interesting has happened lately." She slid the 6 pack of beer across the counter to him.  
  
It was amazing to the owner of the liqour store, Haruka wasn't addicted to the alcohol she bought every night. Most of the people who bought from him, would buy cases at a time, and complain about how much they needed it. Not Haruka, never once had he seen her drunk, or in such a need for the alcohol.  
  
"You still make me wonder Tenou." he smiled at her and rang up the bill. "$5.57"  
  
"I know. I've bought so much I have it down to the penny as to how much it is." she handed a 10 dollar bill across the counter to the man. "Keep the change this time."  
  
"Always generous I see. I should see about finding you a nice girl, I know you'd spoil her to death." he shoved the bill into the register.  
  
"You do that Frank." for the first time that evening, she smiled. Deep down she knew he wouldn't do it, yet a part of him hoped he would.  
  
"See you tomorrow Haruka." She walked from the liqour store and finished her trip home. 


	2. 

Close To The Heart  
  
Chapter 2  
  
A black suit jacket landed hap-hazardly on the clothes hamper in the corner of Haruka's bedroom. She sat on the edge of her bed and opened up one of the beers she had bought. Next on her normal list of removal was her tie, blasted thing had been choking her all day. It landed next to the hamper, on the floor.  
  
"Damn thing. I'll get it in the morning." she thought as she looked at the tie. Her hand brought the beer up to her lips, to take a long drink of it, enjoying the cold alcohol as it ran down her throat. "The joys of being alone." she chuckled at herself, then frowned, realizing how much what she had just said, hurt.  
  
As she unbuttoned her shirt, she made her way back through the apartment to her answering machine. She noticed it flashing when she came in, but wasn't in a rush to see who had left her a message.  
  
"Haruka, we've got a problem. Remember Ryo Shino, the rapest that was being held till his trial, well, the victim, died in a car wreck, there's no evidence that it was set up, they released him. They figured that there's no need to keep him, no more proof." there was a beep signaling the end of the message, and "no more messages" played after that. What Yoshi said running through her mind. She rewound the tape and played it again.   
  
"Oh god." a million thoughts ran through her mind. Mostly remembering what Ryo had yelled to her when the officers were dragging him away. "I'll get you Tenou!" she kept repeating to herself. Her hand shook a little when she popped open another can. "Why do I need to worry? Nobody's ever had the guts to do anything to me." Haruka laughed the whole situation off and went over to her stereo to turn on her favorite classical CD. Perfect piano music soon filled her apartment.   
  
She set the remaining 4 beers on top of her baby-grand piano and opened up the key cover. She had taught herself to play when she was a child, her skills progressing rapidly over time. When track number 2 started playing off the CD, Haruka played every note perfectly with it. "if only to play with a master...just once." she spoke to herself when she finished.   
  
She breaked long enough between songs, to finish her beers off. The muscles of her mouth tried to fight off a yawn, yet lost, a deep yawn covering her face, signaling that it was time for bed. She cleaned up her emptied cans, grabbed her case file, turned off all the lights plus the stereo and walked into her bedroom.  
  
It was another hour before she finally turned off the lamp next to her bed, set the alarm for 10am, knowing she had to be in court at noon. She rolled over and drifted off to sleep. 


	3. 

Close to the Heart  
  
Chapter 3  
  
"Damn clock!" Haruka nearly yelled when the chirping of said clock, pulled her from her dreams. She rolled over and flipped the little switch, to turn if off. Then sat up and rubbed the back of her head, she realized how much she had been tossing and turning the night before, her hair a mess. "Must have had a nice dream." She frowned and stood up, gathering up the suit she would wear for that day and laying it across her bed before wondering into the bathroom for a shower.  
  
20 minutes later, she walked back into her room, only wearing a solid black robe, a towel covered her face as she dried her hair. She had forgotten that she had gotten bored and rearranged her bedroom a few nights ago. "OW!" her foot quickly shot up into her hand, to rub her toe, that was now bruising from hitting her computer desk. "Well today's starting out good."  
  
After combing her short hair, and putting a little bit of gel in it, she finished drying her body before letting the robe fall to the floor and starting to get dressed for that day. She fought with her tie 3 or 4 times before she got it right. "Dammit." she cursed herself. Yet she didn't know why, every court day was always stressing to her, and nerve racking. "Bottle of Vodka sounds good tonight." she sighed as she looked in her full length mirror, to make sure she looked ok. A solid black suit, that had been tailored to fit her perfect now hung on her body, a black button down dress shirt was under it, and a deep navy tie was on top of the shirt. She sat down on her bed just long enough to slide on black socks, and black polished shoes.  
  
After a short drive downtown, Haruka showed her ID to the guard before she was allowed to pull her car into the parking lot. It was only 11, but always enjoyed getting to the courthouse early, to make last minute preparations for her case.  
  
It was murder this time around. The man in question was a 30 year old business man, accused of murdering his own wife and son after going completely crazy one evening. All of the evidence that had been found, pointed at him, his fingerprints were on the knife, his blood was found mixed with that of his son's in the bedsheets. After forensics searched his bedroom, they found his journal, hidden in a crevis in the wall, behind the dresser. It stated, in a few entries, how he suspected his wife of cheating on him, and how he would take care of it, and any trace of her in his life, meaning, their son.  
  
Noon came soon enough, she looked over at a side door when the man was brought into the courtroom, in cuffs. he wore a neatly pressed suit, probably trying to make himself look good for the judge and jury.  
  
It was pushing 5pm before the judge finally called court for the day. Angrily, Haruka packed up her files and notes. It was looking to be a long trial. Only two people had been questioned today, a police officer that arrived at the scene, after receiving the man's histerical phone call, and the coroner, stating how both victims died.  
  
Haruka bid her farewell to the front security guard, whom she know knew by name as she exited the front of the courthouse. She was halfway down the steps before she heard her name from behind her.   
  
"Haruka!" It was Yoshi, she hadn't realized that he had been in the court room, watching the trial. "You don't seem happy." He came to a stop next to her. "I watched you when you were cleaning up, you looked as if you wanted to scream."  
  
Haruka sighed softly. "I was reading over the list of witnesses, and their original statements. Some saying that they had just seen him get home a few minutes before the police arrived. One saying that he was with her the whole night, that he didn't even return home until the next morning. I'm just gonna be up late tonight reconfiguring my case file."  
  
It was sudden when it happened. A single gunshot. Everyone screamed and quickly ran for cover, or ducked down to their knees.  
  
"Haruka get down!" Yoshi dropped to his knees and covered his head. It was a few seconds before he looked up again. The only sound he let himself hear was Haruka's quick raspy breaths. It was shock that kept her standing, her hand lightly touching the bullet hole in the center of her chest. "Haruka!!"  
  
Her eyes went closed and she finally fell, rolling down a few steps before landing face down on the steps, toward the bottom. A pool of warm crimson blood soon surrounding her body from the wound in her chest. 


	4. 

Close to the Heart  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Paramedics tended to her as best they could on the way to the hospital. They managed to stop the flow of blood from her wound. Haruka had fallen from stable, to critical condition, her body temperature started to drop drastically, every blanket the paramedics had in the back was used to cover her now quivering body. The loss of blood causing her chills. They were estimated at being a minute away from the hospital when Haurka's body suddenly started a violent shaking frenzy.  
  
"She's having a seizure! Get the sedative!" one of the elder paramedics ordered his colleague. He gripped her arms, to hold her still long enough for the younger man to administer the liquid into her blood stream. His hands continued to hold her down until her shaking stopped and she relaxed against the gurney. "Dammit hurry up, she needs to get this bullet removed soon." He spoke into a microphone to the man driving the ambulance…  
  
"Michiru Kaiou to the OR immediately, Michiru Kaiou to the OR immediately!" a frantic voice came over the intercom.  
  
Michiru's blood nearly froze when she arrived to the operating room and was briefed on what had happened. She was only 28, the youngest doctor of the hospital, as well as the county. This was her first shot victim that she surgically treated. As she stood in the room, she washed both her hands thoroughly. She watched two men wheel the gurney into the room she was in, and quickly moved the victim onto the operating table.  
  
"Cover up their face, I don't like to look at the person when I operate on them." An assistant quickly did as she ordered. "I need morphine, and anesthesia, stat." she pulled the medical mask over her mouth and moved over to finally get a look at the wound. She moved the towel covering Haruka's chest and let it rest on her breasts.   
  
She wanted to hurry up with the operation, but needed to wait until the anesthesia was hooked up to Haruka's IV…  
  
Nearly 3 hours later, Michiru had pulled the damaged bullet from Haruka's chest and tossed it into a tiny metal pan that was quickly taken to be placed in police evidence. The operation had been a success; Michiru knew that as soon as she walked out of the operating room she would be mobbed by reporters.  
  
Carefully she pealed off the blood-soaked gloves and tossed them into a biohazard container before peaking out the little window of the operating room. "Damn people." She shook her head to an assistant, who was not cleaning up, causing her to chuckle.   
  
Questioned flooded her from all around as soon as she pushed the door open. "Dr. Kaiou, how's Haruka?" "Dr. Kaiou, do you know this operation will make you famous?" "Dr. Kaiou, how serious are Haruka's injuries?" "Dr. Kaiou, is Haruka going to make it through recovery?"   
  
She looked at them, picking one out of the crowd, a tall brown-haired woman, who quickly responded by shoving a small tape recorder in her face. "Makoto Kino, Tokyo Press, Dr. Kaiou, how serious are Haruka Tenou's wounds?" The mob quieted down, to take notes on what she was about to say.  
  
"Ms. Tenou is in serious condition right now. The bullet passed through her right lung, causing it to collapse, plus there was a substantial amount of blood loss." She continued to keep her eyes on the tall brown-haired woman.  
  
"Did you know that Ms. Tenou is a lesbian?"  
  
Michiru simply ignored the woman and pushed her way through the reporters. That last question had absolutely no relevance to the seriousness of Haruka's injuries. Deep down inside, Michiru knew that the next 48 hours would spell out Haruka's fate. If she didn't wake up from her unconscious state in that time, her future looked grim. 


	5. 

Note: Hey, lookie at this, I'm updating a story that's more then a year old. shrugs yay for me. Also, I decided to make this chapter first person, since Haruka's kinda in the hospital, and in pain, so talking and moving wouldn't be too easy for her. I haven't decided if I'm going to finish this in first person, or if I'll go back to third person. Enjoy.

**Close To The Heart**

**Chapter 5**

Ow…it hurts. I can't believe this is happening to me. At least I'm awake now. The nurses won't leave me alone, I only want to sleep.

"How are you doing Haruka?" I looked up to see a young, I'm assuming, doctor, walk in. She was so beautiful, her long aqua colored hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. In her hands, she carried a clip-board. "I'm Dr. Kaiou. I removed the bullet from your chest."

Bullet? What happened to me, I thought. I simply looked at her, I was in too much pain to speak anyway, so it wouldn't have mattered much to try. I closed my eyes, thinking, then it all cam back to me, the sound of the shot, the sudden pressure in my chest, my lack of breath. The sound of Yoshi's yell, of everyone's scream, it all came back to me at that moment. Ryo Shino. That's the first and only name that came to mind. He had to of done it, as revenge toward me. He did it…when I can talk again I'll tell someone. But my god it hurts.

"Are you in pain? Just nod if it hurts to talk." she told a nurse to go and fetch some sort of painkiller when I nodded. "You were brought into the hospital yesterday evening, with a bullet wound in your chest. It apparently happened as you left the court house. Do you remember anything?"

I saw her caring look when I coughed and winced, gripping my chest. "It hurts…breathe…" my voice was hoarse.

Michiru nodded. "It will hurt to breathe for a while, the bullet was lodged in your right lung. Sadly, there's not much we can do about your breathing, other then a breathing tube, but that's a last resort. Your pain, on the other hand, can easily be controlled with medication."

She was so nice to me. I couldn't believe it, a nice doctor. "What's…your name?" my hand gripped my chest, near where the wound was.

I watched her smile at me. She really had a beautiful smile. "It's Michiru."

I only smiled at her, then laid back and closed my eyes. I fell asleep shortly after a nurse added some morphine to my IV tube.

"I'll come and check on you later Haruka…" I heard her say as she left the room.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it, I've really got no idea what I had planned for this story a year ago, but I am getting ideas of where to take it, please leave a review. 


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